Trump 'empowering DHS' to enforce immigration laws: White House

Tuesday, February 21, 2017 - 01:07

White House spokesman Sean Spicer says President Donald Trump is empowering the Department of Homeland Security to ''carry out the immigration laws currently on the books.'' Rough Cut (no reporter narration).

▲ Hide Transcript

▶ View Transcript

ROUGH CUT (NO REPORTER NARRATION)
U.S. President Donald Trump is empowering the Department of Homeland Security to "carry out the immigration laws currently on the books," a White House spokesman said on Monday (February 21).
Sean Spicer's comments came on the heels of new memos issued by DHS to provide guidance to immigration agents as part of a broader plan for border security and immigration enforcement in executive orders that Trump signed on Jan. 25.
Many of the instructions will not be implemented immediately because they depend on Congress, a public comment period or negotiations with other nations, the officials said. Mexican immigration officials immediately objected to part of the new rules.
The guidance also calls for the hiring of 10,000 more U.S. Immigration and Customs (ICE) agents and 5,000 more U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents.
The Republican president campaigned on a pledge to get tougher on the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants in the United States, playing on fears of violent crime while promising to build a wall on the border with Mexico and to stop potential terrorists from entering the country.

Reuters, the news and media division of Thomson Reuters, is the world’s largest international multimedia news provider reaching more than one billion people every day. Reuters provides trusted business, financial, national, and international news to professionals via Thomson Reuters desktops, the world's media organizations, and directly to consumers at Reuters.com and via Reuters TV. Learn more about Thomson Reuters products: